The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 71

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774

USA > Wisconsin > Dodge County > The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc > Part 71

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

SOCIETIES.

Among the various societies that have been organized in Fox Lake, the following may be mentioned as those surviving to the present time: The Odd Fellows organized a Lodge in 1850, with Quartus H. Barron as Noble Grand. In 1873, the Lodge erected an imposing brick build- ing at a cost of about $5,000, the lower portion being devoted to the purposes of a public hall, and the upper portion to those of a lodge-room. The membership is given at about 100. The style and title of the organization is Waushara Lodge, No. 50. The present officers are: S. Clausen, N. G .; A. Halstead, V. G .; D. W. John, R. S .; C. H. Eggleston. P. S .; H. Clausen, T .; B. Germain, W .; S. McDowell, C .; Chas. Lyle, L. S. N. G .; Chas. Merwin, R. S. N. G .; J. N. Hardy, O. G .; J. Peasley, I. G .; S. F. Tucker, R. S. S .; J. Lindlay, L. S. S .; George Townsend, R. S. V. G .; William Halstead, L. S. V. G. Meetings are held every Saturday evening.

Fox Lake Lodge, No. 67, A., F. § A. M., was instituted in 1856. It has a large and ele- gantly furnished hall in the Post-Office Building, and enjoys a membership of about fifty. The present officers are : David Metcalf, W. M .; J. F. Tuttle, S. W .; H. Clausen, J. W .; S. J. Clausen, S. D .; William Cawley, J. D .; Homer Germain, Secretary ; H. C. Fleck, Treasurer ; R. T. Jones, T .; J. Cawley, C. Heyer, Stewards.

The cause of temperance has found a host of friends in Fox Lake. The first public efforts on the part of the citizens of that place to reclaim the drunkard were made in 1857, when a Good Templars Lodge, which has maintained its good standing uninterruptedly ever since, was organ- ized. In 1876, when but three of its charter members-O. N. Gorton, D. W. Stuart and Mrs. C. M. Stafford-remained, it had a membership of eighty-four. Fox Lake Lodge, No. 12, has received valuable assistance in the prosecution of its work from the Ladies' Temperance Union, which was instituted in March, 1874, with 100 signers to the pledge. Mrs. George Warren, Mrs. J. B. Woodruff and Mrs. S. T. Coman have been prominent workers in the latter organiza- tion. Then there is Fox Lake Temple, No. 23, T. of H., organized in October, 1875, with a large and enthusiastic membership. The combined influence of these three organizations have wrought a salutary revolution in Fox Lake. The writer was never more forcibly impressed with the importance of these organizations than while in that village obtaining material for this work. Calling upon Mr. F. A. Leibenstein, the brewer, for the facts concerning his business, that individual, in answer to interrogatories, said: "I built this brewery in 1856 ; it then had a capacity of 1,000 barrels per year. For a time my business increased, and I was compelled to enlarge my establishment to five times its original size. I also built seven beer cellars and a large ice-house ; but, sir, there's no sale for my beer now. The red-ribbon fellows and temperance people generally have the best of it." Thus is a moral pointed and a tale adorned.

474

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

THE OLD SETTLERS' CLUB.

On the 22d of February-a day of good deeds, commemorating a notable event in the his- tory of our country-1875, the Old Settlers' Club, of Fox Lake, was organized. After music and the reading of a poem, the following letters, from absent old settlers, were read. They are given in full, because they contain more history than we have been able to find in any other portions of the published proceedings of that meeting. The first was from Martin Webster, a cousin of the great and gifted Daniel, as follows :

UPPER ALTON, February 26, 1875.

DEAR FRIENDS BARRON AND FERGUSON: Your letters of the 9th inst. came to hand two days ago, containing your kind and flattering invitation to attend a meeting of Old Settlers at Fox Lake. At the time of their reception, the weather was very cold, and I concluded I could not risk the journey. Yesterday was mild and pleasant, and I thought to start; but this morning it is worse than ever. The wind is blowing, I suppose, from Greenland or the North Pole, and, to my great grief, I must, as a prudent man, give it up. It is too cold for an old settler.

Thanking you most sincerely for the friendly expressions of regard contained in your invitation, and hoping your gathering may be all you anticipate, I remain, your ancient friend, M. WEBSTER.

The second was from Francis Ibberson, dated Sleepy Eye, Minn., February 15, 1875 :

BENJ. FERGUSON, Esq .- Dear Sir : Your invitation to the " Old Settlers' Club Banquet" is to hand. Accept my thanks for your kind remembrance. Circumstances will not admit of my presence there, but I assure you that my heart warms toward every old settler of my acquaintance. I may not have so exciting an experience to relate as some others, as my advent in Fox Lake was subsequent to the memorable seige of Fort Cruden; but the kindness always manifested toward me and mine, when overtaken by trouble and affliction, will ever be remembered with gratitude, and the substantial support I received for twenty years, from the old settlers of Fox Lake, will never be forgotten. God bless the Old Settlers. Yours truly, F. IBBERSON.

And the third from the Hon. H. W. Lander, of Beaver Dam :

Hon. Benjamin Ferguson, Chairman, etc. .

DEAR SIR-It is with regret that other engagements prevent my accepting your kind invitation to attend the Old Settlers' Club Banquet, on Monday evening, " when a good time may be expected," and many happy reminis- cences will be related by those composing and taking part at your meeting. I rejoice in your object, and sincerely wish I could share in your pleasure.

Your gathering will call to mind many pleasant recollections of the past, and of those who have shared with you the privations of old settlers. Old settlers alone can commune with old settlers in words and mind, of the hard- ships, doubts, wants and joys of frontier life. The early settlers did not have all hardships, and all darkness. Care was less then than now-wants were less and more easily satisfied. Trouble was not to be harbored, butturned fron the door. The sun shone brighter a quarter of a century ago, and less clouds obscured its rays than now. Old Time did not whet his scythe as often then as now, and in the classic language of your speaker, " times ain't now as they used to was."

I have only seen twenty-eight winds of winter sweep through the oak-trees on your prairies, where waving boughs seemed intent on beckoning the tardy down-eater to come with plow, ax and strong arms to make a home in Eden ; have seen only twenty-eight summers of perpetual flowers, whose fragrance the west wind wafted to the fair Eastern wife and maiden, beckoning her to come with firm step and warm heart to bless his home. Faithfully and well have they done their work. Many have gone, and have their reward. Give them an earnest and silent thought. Many are with you now. Cheer them with a good word from the heart. And the men of over a quarter of a century ago-many are gone. Dr. Judd's work was well done. He passed kind and honored to immortality. Stevens, Edward Davis, Germain and many others, and now Gallup, see no more of frontier life ; they are no longer old settlers ; all is well with them.

Twenty-eight years ago-over a quarter of a century ! Let us find some now who were then. Well, there was Dave Pulling. He was not "old Judge" then, but was at Watertown, " letting the molasses run !" He is not as sweet now as when we boys quarreled over a dog suit in his court.

Then there is Banta. He has been here long enough, and is old enough, but the girls say he don't love worth a cent. He is a bad man to settle up a new country.

And the Browers. Whoever is curious to know how long they have lived West can find out if they have patience to read the Book of Genesis. There is no other authentic history of their exodus from the land of dykes and ditches. The record says they came here full size, and history will make note that they are still growing. Ask Hotchkiss to record the fact in connection with his next account of the health of the Baby's Grandfather.

I suppose Gibbs, of Trenton, is with you. He used to be a good man, but look out for him now that he has become President of an Insurance Company !

Davis, John W., has fought well for the allotted measure of the sands of life. Commencing with the jack-plane, he has successfully barred the wolf from the door.

And then yourself, Mr. Chairman. Not content to dwarf yourself upon the sterile hills of Maine, you sought the sea for ample space to obtain full growth. For amusement you harpooned whales and sharks in the Indian Ocean. For profit you gathered the cast-off horns of the unicorn on the coast of Africa. To gratify your taste for art you worshiped at the feet of Castor and Pollux. For love you came West, and became foremost in that noble band of pioneers.

475

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

And another you have among you who will never be forgotten, though he may fade. He came West the same year that Boaz wedded Ruth. He is a hen-fancier by education. He selected the different species of birds for Noah's Ark. About the eighth century his hair was yellow, and it has not changed ! He has performed many deeds of valor-was sword-bearer to the Queen of Sheba, was Justice of the Peace in the Court of Solomon's Temple, was a member of the Roman Senate, and played seven-up and " penuckle " with Nero ! Was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature and voted large supplies to Black Hawk. He never was a safe or profitable man. In the beginning he called himself " Barron," and the record shows that he is Barren now !

Wishing you a pleasant reunion, I remain,

Yours truly, H. W. LANDER.

After more music and the reading of the Constitution and By-Laws of the society, the follow- ing officers were elected : President, B. F. Gibbs; Vice Presidents, James H. Williams, Samuel Kimball, Randall Illsley ; Secretaries, W. J. Dawes, David Metcalf ; Marshal, D. C. Williams; Speaker, W. J. Dawes-Alternate, N. E. Allen ; Lady Essayist, Mrs. J. B. Woodruff-Alternate, Mrs. Q. H. Barron.

Addresses then followed by Judge Pulling, Gov. Smith, Messrs. Gibbs, Lindsay, Allen, Barron, Tarrant, Brower, Gorton, Hawley, Reeves and others, after which a sumptuous banquet commanded the undivided attention of the vast assemblage-and the Old Settlers' Club of Fox Lake was organized. The Glee Club, comprising Miss Anna Coleman, Mrs. L. E. Ford, Mr. D. D. Williams and T. R. Daniel, with Mrs. George J. Davies, accompanist, contributed very much to the pleasures of the evening.

Meetings have been held regularly once a year. At the fourth annual meeting, the follow- ing letter was read from Judge D. J. Pulling, dated Oshkosh, March 11, 1878 :

DEAR SIR-I received your kind invitation to the " Old Settlers' " meeting at Fox Lake, to be held March 13, inst. Unfortunately, an adjourned term of the Circuit Court commences in Ozaukee County to-morrow, the 12th, and I shall be unable to attend. But I send you kindly greeting to all. I remember with great pleasure all the " Old Settlers," and with pride that Fox Lake was for nearly twenty years my home. It was there that I spent the best years of my manhood. I am proud of her people ; they are the peers of any. They have furnished to the State her present Governor, and another who was thought worthy by political friends of a nomination for the office of Governor, and most worthy to have filled the office had the members of his political party been sufficient to have sent him there. And another, who filled the office of Circuit Judge for twelve years, and whose warmest support always came from his old home. And another, a member of the Constitutional Convention, and who also filled many other offices of trust, a better man than whom never lived. He is now gone, taken from us in his ripe old age. But he has left us many kind remembrances; memory of him will live as long as we do. She has also furnished many members of the Legislature, both of the Senate and the Assembly, and among her people there have been and are now many others worthy and competent to fill any exalted position of either trust or honor. And, when I think over the past, I am proud that Fox Lake is my " old home," and I yearn to meet my old neighbors face to face, but official duties prevent, and I will try and content myself by contributing an early reminiscence.

When I first came to Wisconsin, the law business did not pay very well ; I was poor and must live; I tried "keeping store" at Fox Lake. The business was new to me and I conducted it rather unskillfully. One day I was reading, and a little girl came for some molasses. I went into the back room and drew it, and sat down again to my reading. After a time I went into the back room again, and stepped into molasses up to my shoe tops. I had for- gotten to close the faucet and the barrel of molasses had all run out on the floor. Hence came the expressive saying, now known all over the world, " Let the molasses run."

And now, my dear old friends, good-night. May you all live to have many of these meetings, and may I hereafter be with you. Truly yours,

D. J. PULLING.

At the fifth annual meeting, held December 10, 1878, the following officers were elected : President, Junius Marvin. Vice Presidents-S. T. Coman. John Rose, L. J. Cady. Secre- tary, W. J. Dawes (Assistant, David Metcalf) ; Marshal, O. N. Gorton ; Orator, O. N. Gorton (Alternate, E. J. Lindsay) ; Essayist, Mrs. O. A. Buck ( Alternate, Miss Lena Dexter) ; Poet, George W. Peck (of the Sun) ; Toastmaster, Dr. C. B. Hawes.

The annual address was read by S. C. McDowell; an essay by Mrs. M. E. Warren, and a poem by C. F. George.

THE LAKE.

Fox Lake, upon whose outlet the village is located, is justly its pride. It is three and one-half miles in length by about two and one-half in width, divided centrally by two wooded islands, one (Pulling's or Brower's) being one mile long and one-fourth wide, the other (Saw- yer's) about half a mile in extent. Brower's Island has a dwelling upon it, and is partially cultivated. It is connected with the main land on the south by a bridge, and its special

476

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

adaptation to picnic purposes is known and appreciated throughout all this section of country. A grand hotel or summer resort will one day add to the attractions of this truly beautiful island. The average depth of water south of the islands does not exceed five feet. North of Brower's, the bottom gradually inclines Chinaward, and in the central part the sounding line finds no resting-place. The north shore has grassy, wooded banks, the southern and eastern, boggy. The water north of the islands is pure and transparent, furnishing an extra quality of ice. The lake abounds with some twelve varieties of fish, and is unrivaled as a fishing resort. In the winter of 1874-75, 20,981 pounds of fish, chiefly pickerel, perch and pike, caught from the lake, were shipped by Mr. John Medley to the Milwaukee market. This amount was less by at least one-third than the total catch. Last winter, the fishing was not as good, and a fish law is again needed. Four miles north of this lake is Lake Emily, a beautiful sheet of water, about a mile in extent.

GROWTH.

Although the growth of the village has not been rapid, it has, in the main, been permanent and substantial. Its census of 1875 showed a population of 1,012, and the town 853, making a total of 1,865. Its standing among first-class " beautiful villages " ranks No. 1. It has numerous private residences which wealth and good taste have combined to make all that could reasonably be desired. The nationality of population, both town and village, is about 70 per cent American and the remainder principally Irish, German and Welsh. In its immediate vicinity are numerous farms equal in point of excellence to any in the State. The largest, and among the best farms, is that of D. C. Williams, embracing 680 acres, upon which is an exten- sive barn, built at an expense of $8,500.

There are many other farms worthy of special mention, among which are those of George Jess, W. H. Lindlay, N. W. Tarrant, Brower Bros., Messrs. Kennedy, Lemon, Lyle, Cameron, N. E. Allen and George Warren. Some of these latter are not within the town limits, but so near that the citizens of Fox Lake feel justified (with the permission of Trenton) in claiming them -especially George Warren's $20,000 residence. The average value of these farms is $50 per acre.

CHAPTER VIII.

HORICON.

AN ANCIENT INDIAN VILLAGE-FIRST SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES-GRAPIIIC PEN PICTURES BY A LADY RESIDENT-PERMANENT GROWTH-MANUFACTORIES-THE RAILROADS-THE CHURCHES-SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES-THE POST OFFICE-HOTELS-CONFLAGRATIONS- DISASTERS ON HORICON LAKE-GOVERNMENT.

RECOLLECTIONS OF SATTERLEE CLARK.

" White Breast (Maunk-shak-kah, the Indians called it)," says the Hon. Satterlee Clark, "was for many, many years-I don't know how long-a noted Winnebago village. On the night of September 2, 1830, I slept in an Indian lodge on the east bank of Rock River, where Horicon now stands. There were two rows of lodges extending several rods north from a point near where the Milwaukee & St. Paul bridge spans the river. The population of White Breast, I should judge, was close upon two thousand-bucks, squaws and papooses. I was on my way, in company with White Ox, to an Indian settlement at the head of Lake Koshkonong. I was but fourteen years of age, and lived with my father at Fort Winnebago. The Indians treated me well, and I have no cause to complain of ill usage at their hands at any time during the sev- enteen years thereafter that I traded with them. They always possessed and exhibited the warmest friendship for me, and now, when the few scattered remnants of the once pow- erful tribes that inhabited Southeastern Wisconsin come to Horicon, they never go away without paying me a visit. As an illustration of their fidelity toward me, I will relate an inci- dent that occurred a few years since. While going to Milwaukee, half a dozen Indians got on the rear platform of the car in which I was sitting with two or three ladies I met on the train. Just as we were pulling out from the station, I heard an unearthly yell, and, looking up, saw those Indians coming down the aisle on a run, throwing up their hands and uttering all manner of joyous exclamations in their own tongue. In a moment, they were upon me, pulling my clothing, shaking my hands and arms, and jabbering away with all their might. Every one in the car was frightened nearly to death. The ladies with whom I had been con- versing almost fainted. It was not until they saw me shaking hands with my old friends that they recovered from their fright. There were some pale faces, sure enough, in that car. In the midst of the excitement, the conductor came along and ordered the Indians to " get out," but I told him it was only a little peace powwow, and that, when they got through talking, I would send them away, which I did after shaking each of them by the hand again and wishing them good luck.

" How did the Wisconsin Indians pass their time ? O, very easily indeed, and pleasantly withal. Hunting and fishing and trading were the chief pursuits of the males. The squaws devoted their attention, during the spring and summer months, to raising corn, and the autumn and winter to dressing deer hides, making moccasins and building fires in their wigwams. Dur- ing warm weather, they lived in lodges built of white cedar bark. Within these lodges were constructed, of poles and grass mats, very comfortable berths, where the weary huntsman stretched himself in sleep at night. In the winter, wigwams were substituted for these airy lodges. The wigwams were made of heavy mats prepared from the grass which grew upon the marshes and the borders of the lake. A strip of matting, two or three feet wide, would be stretched around the bottom of a series of poles placed in the ground certain distances apart, coming together at the top eight or ten feet from their base. An embankment of snow, or earth, if the former did not exist in sufficient abundance, was then thrown up about the outside

478

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

of the matting ; another and another strip of the same grass material being placed above the first until the circular wall became of sufficient height to protect the inmates from the chilling blasts of wind which howled through the forest, the top of the wigwam being left open to allow the smoke to escape from the fires, around which the Indians gathered at night to relate their deeds of war or tell their tales of love. When the drowsy god of sleep asserted himself, they would wrap themselves in their blankets, turn their feet to the fire and obey his commands. Their bed was the cold, solid earth ; their sheets, simple grass mats. The couch was not downy, but it was comfortable.

" Yes, they buried their dead above ground. Along the banks of the river could be seen the last resting-places of many ' good Indians.' When one of their number died, a rude plat- form was constructed of poles and brush, six or seven feet from the ground. The corpse, being placed in an old canoe covered with bark and hermetically sealed with tamarack gum, was then deposited upon this platform, and the last sad rites were over."

Isaac H. Chandler, who, with his parents, settled on a portion of what is now the Birge farm, in the fall of 1844, tells of having seen and examined the funeral piles of three Indians -a man and two papooses-which stood on the west bank of Rock River, near the present. railroad crossing. The " big Injun's " remains had been deposited in a trough, hollowed out for the purpose, and covered over with a flat piece of timber, fashioned to fit closely over the top. Within this strange tomb, besides the bones of the unhallowed warrior, were a rusty flint-lock rifle and a Spanish dollar. The bleached bones of many an aborigine were strewn about upon the ground, indicating it as a favorite spot with the Indians for the interment of their dead. There was also to be seen the grave of a French trapper, who, so the Indians said, had " died while trading with them," but they were profoundly ignorant of the nature of his disease. They had, at least, shown enough respect for the customs of his people to place his remains beneath the ground, using his walnut canoe for a coffin. It is presumed that both the trapper and the canoe came up Rock River from the Mississippi, as the black walnut is not indigenous to Wisconsin.

FIRST SETTLEMENT.

As already indicated, this place was formerly the site of an extensive Indian village-the only one, Mr. Clark says, within what is now Dodge County. The date of its settlement by members of the red race whose scions inhabited it when our pale-faced ancestors came upon the scene is, of course, a matter of conjecture. The evidences of this Indian occupation are still to be seen in the form of numerous earth mounds, of various patterns, and thousands of well-defined corn-hills, whose obliteration time and the energy of man have not yet accomplished. Though Mr. Clark (perhaps from motives of modesty) does not claim to be the discoverer of this portion of Rock River, the circumstances of his voyage down that stream, in 1830, are not unlike those encountered by Father Marquette on the great Mississippi two decades ago ; and he certainly deserves a place in the category of " antediluvians."

The first entry of land now included in the village limits of Horicon was made by Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire, after the sale of Government lands in 1838. His claim included a tract of nearly five hundred acres, embracing all that portion of the present village limits lying south of Main street and east of the river, in Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8, Township 11 north, Range 16 east. Gov. Hubbard afterward sold a part of his claim to John B. Preston and others for " town and water site purposes," and the place became known as Hub- bard's Rapids. The first actual and permanent settler at . the Rapids was Joel Doolittle, and Mrs. Doolittle, who is still alive, has the honor of having been the first white woman upon the ground. In December, 1845, Mr. Doolittle made a claim and built a log shanty on the west side of the river, just south of the present site of H. B. Marsh's brick mill. He had pre- viously signed a contract to build a dam across Rock River for the proprietors of the water site, Messrs. Larrabee & Preston and Martin Rich ; the latter, who lived near Juneau, also having become interested. The contract price was $700, but, after spending considerable time and labor upon the project, Mr. Doolittle found that his estimate was too low, and, by general consent, withdrew

479

HISTORY OF DODGE COUNTY.

from the task. The dam was afterward completed by Mr. Rich, in the winter of 1846. The summer and fall of 1846 brought several new faces upon the scene, and the new settlement soon became one of activity and enterprise. George H. Beers, H. B. Marsh and S. N. Rice came in this year and located permanently. In October, Mr. Beers and Garry Taylor commenced the erection of a saw-mill, and in June, 1847, the first lumber was manufact- ured. It was used in building the residence now occupied by Sylvester and William Rice, on Vine street. The iron-work of the saw-mill was furnished by Mr. Marsh, who built and carried on the first blacksmith-shop and ironed the first wagon built in the place, the wood-work of the vehicle being made by Mr. Rice.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin, containing a history of Dodge County, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc, Part 71

Author: Western Historical Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 774

Author: Western Historical Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 774